If people are leaving Wattpad because of the censorship, then coming to AO3 only to beg for censorship what's the point? It’s called Archive of Our Own for a reason, it is ours. For us and by us.
Because apparently it needs to be spelled out, I’m writing out some of the unwritten rules of AO3:
Don't like, don't read - you can have your own opinions but if you don't like it just scroll past, it's that easy. Let it be.
Read. The. Tags. - the tags are warnings of what the story will include. That is your guide. If there is something you're not comfortable with in the tags then scroll past. The AO3 tagging system is genius and lets you filter out the things you don’t like, so you don’t even have to see the stories you might not be comfortable with if you don’t want to. Use the tags.
Do not spread the stories outside of fandom spaces - fanfiction is for the fans. Especially when it’s RPF it is not to be referenced or brought up to the people who it is about. They are all very aware that it is made but that doesn’t mean they want to read it or know about it. I don’t care what you say, it is unavoidable and as long as it is not widespread and stays in its own space it is not harmful. It is up to the fans to respect that. (That being said if the people who the RPF fics are about search them up or reference fics themselves that’s a bit different and the rules change a bit.)
Respect the authors - the authors spend their own time writing stories, many of which are genuinely incredibly written and well thought out, for absolutely nothing in return. You get to read pieces of work for free by authors who are doing it for free. Do not go to the comments and complain or say they should have done something else or report because they wrote something you’re not comfortable with. And respect the authors wishes when they say not to share their work anywhere else.
Basically just respect fandom spaces, keep them separate from reality, and mind your own business. It’s so easy.
It’s a very under-appreciated thing to have an archive where people can put their work out for the world to see and make art that can be appreciated and easily accessed by other people on a wide scale, and it needs to be protected.
